Trump $464 Million NY Civil Fraud Penalty Vacated On Appeal

A New York appeals court struck down a $464 million fraud penalty against President Donald Trump and his company in a civil suit over his asset valuations, but upheld his liability in the case, handing him a financial victory over the state’s attorney general.

The decision Thursday vacates a massive penalty from February 2024 by a Manhattan judge who found Trump illegally enriched himself for a decade by inflating the value of his assets on financial documents to get better terms on loans. The appeals court found the penalty “excessive” but maintained that Trump broke the law.

The long-awaited ruling by an intermediate state appeals court wipes out one of Trump’s biggest financial liabilities. It also puts fresh legal pressure on New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has become the focus of a federal probe into whether her lawsuit violated Trump’s legal rights.